It’s easy to see why Ditmas Park in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn has become one of the city’s most desirable neighborhoods. Old railroad suburbs are often attractive and interesting places: Big, suburban houses stand close together on walkable streets, a layout from the days before automobiles. The railroad that serves Ditmas Park is the Brighton Line, also known as the Q train, which follows the right of way of the old Brooklyn, Flatbush & Coney Island Railroad, a surface steam railroad eventually purchased and rebuilt by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company. The BRT decided to run the Brighton Line in an open cut through Flatbush. This hid the train from view in an area ripe for development as a high-class residential district at the turn of the 20th century.